Space Channel 5

Pop legend Michael Jackson plays a bit part as "Space Michael" in developer Sega's rhythm game Space Channel 5. (He gets a bigger part in the sequel.)

Saints Row: The Third

Actor Burt Reynolds plays the mayor of fictional city Steelport in ridiculous open-world action game Saints Row: The Third. Because of course he does.

Mass Effect 3

Famed astronaut Buzz Aldrin makes a brief appearance in the epilogue of developer BioWare's Mass Effect 3. He was the least controversial part of that ending.

Grand Theft Auto IV

Comedian Ricky Gervais appears in Grand Theft Auto IV's comedy club. You can watch him on TV in your apartment or catch the live show.

Vice City Stories

Another Grand Theft Auto gem: Musician Phil Collins appears as himself in the '80s-tastic Vice City Stories. You can go to an in-game Collins concert if you have $6,000 for a ticket.

Brütal Legend

Former Black Sabbath singer and anti-bat activist Ozzy Osbourne appears in Double Fine's adventure game Brütal Legend as The Guardian of Metal. This means he sells you upgrades.

Back to the Future

Although newcomer A.J. Locascio provides the voice for Marty McFly in Telltale Games' Back to the Future series, the films' star Michael J. Fox appears as two McFly relatives in the final episode.

Advertisment

Celebrities have been lending their voices and likenesses to video games for years, and you need only look at the voice-cast lists for big games like epic first-person shooter Call of Duty: Black Ops to see how prevalent they are.

But some appearances are more subtle, relevant or just straight-up awesome. Here are seven celebrity cameos that actually belong in their respective games.

Facebook is reportedly working on a brand new app that’ll be strictly for celebrities. The app will allow the famous to better interact with fans in the hope that more will be encouraged to use the social network for sharing. It’s currently in testing with a small group of famous people, according to sources familiar with the project.

Twitter Music is launching on iPhone and the web today, and you no longer have to be a star to enjoy it. After a short period of testing with select music artists and celebrities, the music discovery service will be made available to everyone later on today.

Despite the fact that she uses an iPhone, Alicia Keys joined BlackBerry’s CEO onstage today to announce her new position at the company as “Global Creative Director.” After giving a creepy analogy about her and BlackBerry “exclusively dating,” Keys skirted a question about what phone she used before her BlackBerry. That’s probably because she was a self-proclaimed “iPhone junky.”

The idea of a famous artist/non-technology expert like Alicia Keys getting in bed with BlackBerry may seem weird, but this isn’t something new. For years struggling tech companies have been using faux-celebrity partnerships and endorsements as a desperate plea for attention.